What makes an amazing story? Endless essays and debates can take place denoting what is valuable about a story, and although many can agree on some shared principles, it still boils down to individual tastes. It can be the characters, the setting, the subject, or the underlying message and philosophies that are presented. Who can say which is truly more important?
Novels, movies, and video games typically take the center stage as mediums that can best portray an incredible story. However, in recent years, some board games have allowed players to immerse themselves in a story. Classic titles such as Dungeons and Dragons to more recent games like Dead Of Winter have allowed players to not only experience incredible narratives but also tell their own stories.
8 Cosmic Encounter
Old but gold, this game originally came out in the 1970s. In Cosmic Encounter, players assume command of an alien race that has a unique power. Players must attack or negotiate to have their ships establish colonies on the planets of their opponents, with the first person to reach five being the victor.
The game relies heavily on negotiation, diplomacy, bluffing, and foresight to achieve victory. Players can create momentary alliances that suit their needs or activate their abilities to achieve their ends. Some alien abilities are so powerful that other players will naturally (or be forced to) ally against the player with such power. Easy to learn and timeless, those who play Cosmic Encounter will remember their sagas filled with betrayal, glory, and the sprint to become the ultimate power in the universe.
7 Pandemic Legacy Season 1
Despite there being three other Pandemic Legacy games, board game fans consistently vote Pandemic Legacy Season 1 to be the best of the bunch. In Pandemic Legacy, players will work together to stop four plagues that are ravaging the globe. The game lasts through 12-24 game sessions and will have players race against the clock to achieve objectives and slowly whittle down the diseases represented as cubes in different cities.
As the game progresses, new components and rules will be added, forcing players to make permanent changes to the game board, cards, and even to the characters themselves (yes, stickers can be placed on the game board and cards can be written on or ripped up as demanded by the game). Characters will gain additional skills or receive negative effects to the point where they can be lost entirely. In an unforgettable experience, players will attempt to save the world with a setting and theme that already feels way too familiar.
6 Tales Of The Arabian Nights
Tales Of The Arabian Nights takes the mechanics of the choose-your-own-adventure book genre and implements them into a board game. Whimsical and hilarious, the game will leave gamers spellbound. Players can play as Sinbad or Aladdin and travel the world in search of treasure and glory by becoming a sultan or living legend or if unlucky, cursed or crippled.
Will players choose to explore the cave of wonders or enter a handsome prince (yes that is an actual choice in the game)? The game features over 2000 stories, as well as a reaction sheet so that players will always have unique encounters and opportunities to approach things differently.
5 Oath: Chronicles Of Empire And Exile
In Oath: Chronicles of Empire And Exile, players will get to create and shape the history of a distant fantasy land. Starting as exiles, the person who wins the first game will become the next match's chancellor. As subsequent games go by, the chancellor can elevate exiles into citizens, which allows players to explore different mechanics to achieve victory conditions.
How a player seizes victory impacts the next game. If players win through deceit and manipulation, the next game will feature thieves and cruel warlords. Should players snatch victory by aligning with an arcane cult, then the future map will reflect the consequences of that decision. Oath can reflect a world that responds to player actions and portray a unique story shaped by the hands of its gamers.
4 Freedom: The Underground Railroad
Freedom: The Underground Railroad has players working together as abolitionists seeking to topple the institution of slavery. Players will attempt to help slaves flee safely from plantations in the south and raise support for the cause. It is a card-driven experience that features event sequences and figures of that time, starting from early American independence right up to the civil war.
Freedom is difficult as several events can hamper the team effort. Moreover, the game features slave catchers that will react to movements made on the board in the hopes of recapturing runaway slaves. An interesting cooperative experience that emphasizes careful planning, Freedom attempts to recreate the difficult and heroic story of how abolitionists worked to try and end slavery.
3 Bloc By Bloc: The Insurrection Game
Inspired by 21st-century protests and uprisings, Bloc by Bloc: The Insurrection Game features a semi-coop experience where players revolt against the state. Each player selects a faction – Students, Workers, Neighbors, or Prisoners – and uses that group’s unique ability to liberate a randomly generated city before the military shows up.
Players can build blockades, loot shops, clash with cops, and even occupy areas, however, each faction also harbors a secret agenda. Most agendas revolve around teamwork and collaboration, but some can be nihilistic. It is possible for a player to covertly work against the other factions to achieve a sole victory. In a game with social commentary that doesn’t shy away from politics, players will have a fun yet informative experience that details their story of how they revolted against tyranny.
2 Kolejka
Pronounced ko-ley-ka in Polish and meaning "queue", Kolejka tells the absurd tale of families queuing up for groceries in Poland towards the end of Communist rule. Players will assume the role of a family and send members of kin to different stores on the map to buy things from the grocery list. The catch is that most of these stores are empty. This game can be oddly seen as "Communist Monopoly".
Players will get family members to line up at stores without knowing which shop will have the desired items. In time, products are revealed, but there’s only enough for the ones in front. Thus begins a game of push-and-pull where players will engage in a "queue-off", playing cards against opponents that say things like "Apologies, this is not your place madam" or "Mother carrying a small baby" to get in front of the line. Players can strike deals with market traders and only the craftiest of competitors will get everything on their shopping list. Ridiculous and harsh, Kolejka gives players an eye-opening experience of the difficulties of families living under Communist rule in Europe towards the end of the 20th century.
1 This War Of Mine: The Board Game
Based on the titular video game of the same name, This War Of Mine: The Board Game attempts to recreate the experiences of civilians trapped in a city under siege. Inspired by the siege of Sarajevo (the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern war), players will role-play as civilians trying to eke out a living in a devastated urban environment. Players start with a dilapidated house that they will need to repair and maintain. At night, players must decide who goes out to forage for supplies, who will rest, and who will stand guard.
The game comes with a narrative book of scripts that boasts over 1000+ encounters and entries that will allow players to experience many harrowing (and hopeful) events. Players will attempt to have their characters survive until the war is over. Unlike the This War of Mine video game which is solely a solo experience, the board game has players working together to get through the horrors of war. Brutal, depressing, but hopeful, This War Of Mine is not a game for everyone. However, gamers who do experience the game will receive unparalleled insights into the best and worst of humanity.